Of Broken Spirits and Frozen Hearts
by Benjamin Vesta
Summary: A retelling of Frozen with a twist. What if Hans had actually fallen in love with Anna? It's told mostly from Hans's point of view. Yes, there'll be Hanna. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

Hans stood on the bow of his small sailboat and looked over the city with a glassy stare as he glided into the dock. He saw how beautiful it was, and he knew he had chosen well. This was it. His new home. He saw himself on the balcony of the palace, walking across the main street, and going out on the fjord with the queen of Arendelle. It just felt _right_. And so he tied off his ship with a sense of purpose and took his gondola to the exact spot where he would ask the queen for a romantic ride on the lake, after which he would propose. The genius of his plan made him shiver with anticipation.

Being the youngest of a family his size wasn't easy. His parents, the king and queen were old, and they left their throne to a dozen heirs before Hans. But it wasn't just that. The Southern Isles was a large enough nation that he surely would have had power over an island or two once he came of age. But even if that happened, he would never feel like he belonged. It wasn't his place. Maybe Arendelle was.

His musings were interrupted as he was letting loose his horse, Sitron, and he heard a shriek behind him. There was a girl in his gondola, falling down into the water.

He quickly bade Sitron to hold the boat down and save the girl from a wet landing.

"I- I'm so sorry- Are you okay?" Hans said frantically. The girl sat up a bit and Hans looked closely at her for the first time. She looked stunning. Hans's heartbeat calmed down after looking at her. He jumped off his steed and went to her.

"Hey, I-" the girl said, then paused as she looked into Hans's eyes. She stuttered out, "I- Yes, yes I- I'm-" She cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"Oh, good."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just- Well, I wasn't looking- I was going- but yeah, I'm fine. I'm great, actually," she said nervously.

"Oh, thank goodness." Hans offered his hand to her. She took it, but faltered as she got up and the boat tipped again. Sitron stopped it short, but Hans fell nearly fully on the girl, trying to salvage it as catching her.

She started to say, "Oh, well that's-" but then Sitron pushed the boat down the rest of the way, and they both fell down, the girl face-first into Hans's chest.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Hans tried to stutter out again, but he wasn't completely sorry that that happened. Hans saw that the girl may have enjoyed it a little bit too by the look on her face. They both got up and dusted themselves off.

The girl said, "I'm sorry, that's awkward, I mean I'm awkward- You, you're gorgeous. Wait, what?"

Hans offered a hand to her, and they stepped off the boat. "Let's try the introductions over, shall we?" Hans said with a smile. The girl giggled.

"I'm Anna. And what about you?"

"I'm Hans, of the Southern Isles."

"Well, it's good to meet you, Hans." A bell rang in the distance. The girl, Anna, looked back at it and gasped. "I'm sorry, but I should be going."

"Oh. Well, it was good to see you."

"Yeah, you too!" Anna said as she half-ran back into the city.

Hans stepped back to the boat and stared into the city once again, this time looking for a different type of beauty. Sitron neighed and got Hans's attention. The horse seemed to raise his eyebrows as would one man to another when he could tell the other was interested in a girl.

"Oh come on, Sitron. Making her fall directly on top of me was a little unnecessary, don't you think?" Sitron whinnied. "Well, you know, they say there's nothing more attractive than a woman who's into you. Can't blame me," he said, emphasizing the word "me." "Still, I guess I can't let her get in the way of my plan. It's a shame." He made a mischievous face at Sitron. "Do you think the princess is that pretty?" he asked jokingly. Sitron made a face at Hans and then dropped the boat into the water.

**_From now on, I'll be posting chapters three or four at a time. I just wanted to go ahead and get the first one out there. Please review, and follow if you're interested to see how this story turns out! As always- BV._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Alright guys, I'm sorry to say that my computer has been down for some time now, so it's been difficult to write. Even now, I'm kind of cheating the system in the way that I'm typing this. But I won't get into that. Just know that once my computer is back in working order, you'll have multiple chapters at a time. Until then, I'll probably publish a couple of single chapters. Enjoy.**_

Hans stood in the back, sipping champagne and contemplating his next move. Through both the coronation and the party he was now attending, he had been watching Queen Elsa. He had tried numerous times to make a move on the queen, but it was overall a very unfruitful effort. He sighed and leaned back and took another sip of champagne.

A short, black-haired man in an Arendelle palace uniform took to the stage, and the band quieted.

"Guests, Arendelle would like to thank you all for joining us here tonight," the man began. "And what better way to do just that than to have our queen do it herself?" He gestured to his left. "Her Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle." Elsa walked regally out to the front of the room, and Hans looked away. Now that Elsa would be personally greeting people, Hans would have his best chance. But he just felt a little discouraged. _It's like she isn't even human. She's just a shell, _Hans found himself thinking. That thought was interrupted by a few words that caught Hans's attention.

"And now, Princess Anna of Arendelle," the man called out. Hans turned to look and saw a beautiful red-headed girl.

_Could it be?_

"Oh, you mean I'm supposed to stand here? Because I thought that- Oop!" the girl shouted as she tripped.

_Yes. It could._

Hans straightened his coat. This was a new development, and it was the best kind.

Anna stood at Elsa's side, wanting to disappear. All her life, she'd been waiting for this kind of chance, and now she froze up. She was at a loss.

_Why can't you just talk to her? Stupid, stupid-_

"Hey," Elsa offered casually.

"Hey- hey me?" Anna asked, indicating herself. Elsa nodded.

"How is it?" Elsa inquired.

"The party, oh it's-" Anna cleared her throat. _Just act natural. You can do this, _she thought, and the same thought filled Elsa's mind, as usual. "It's great to have the gates open. I love meeting all the people, and-"

They spoke together, "I just love the chocolate!" They met eyes and giggled together. The band started to play a new number, and a dance began in the crowd.

"Have you done any dancing yet?" Elsa asked.

"Oh- oh no. I would probably step on everyone. Besides, I don't really have a dancing partner."

"Well, if you're dancing by yourself, at least you don't have to worry about the steps." The words rang deep and meaningful in Anna's mind, but Elsa quickly chimed in with a joke. "You can see how well it works for him," she said nodding at the Duke of Weselton, who was strutting about, waving his arms in all directions. Anna snorted with laughter, and Elsa grinned.

"I like Arendelle with the gates open," Anna said, trying to get to a point of which she was somewhat afraid.

"Me too. I wish it could always be this way," Elsa replied, smiling into the crowd.

"Well," Anna said shakily. "You're the queen; why don't you make that way?" A wave of darkness crashed over Elsa's face.

"Now Anna, you know it isn't that easy."

"No, I really don't. What are you trying to keep out?" Anna pleaded, desperation rising through her throat.

"Enough!" Elsa half-yelled. "It just can't be like that." Anna was going to say something, but instead she turned and walked away.

She stormed into the chaos of the dance without looking. Perhaps if she had looked, she wouldn't have tripped. She came crashing down, squealing, but before she hit the ground, a hand caught hers.

"Glad I caught you," Hans said with a charming smile.

**_Oh yeah, I almost forgot. To the reviewer who was confused about the bit with Hans talking to Sitron, as much as I love the way Kristoff and Sven communicate, Hans doesn't do Sitron's talking. Think of it more like in Tangled, where you're left to infer what Maximus is saying. I hope that explains it. Thanks for reviewing. As always, -BV._**


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